Can anyone say they have never told a lie? With France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison branding each other liars this week, one expert is trying to answer the question: why do people lie?
Macquarie University’s Associate Professor in Philosophy, Robert Sinnerbrink (pictured right), has been exploring whether any lies are morally justifiable – and why we lie. Asking this question, he said, raises another: why tell the truth?
People today often expect politicians to lie.
Many of us lie to our doctors. A US study found that 60 to 80 per cent of patients admitted they have withheld information relevant to their health, with more than one in five concealing unhealthy diets or lack of exercise. When asked why, their most common response was that they did not want to be judged, and wanted to avoid embarrassment.
“These are ‘negative’ reasons why we might lie: to avoid judgment or censure in order to preserve our self-image or reputation. More common are positive reasons to lie: to gain advantage for oneself without suffering negative consequences,” said Robert.
“Most would agree that lying in order to cheat someone of their savings is morally wrong; but lying about someone’s haircut in order to spare their feelings seems morally benign.”
Lying for the ‘greater good’?
There also are strategic reasons to lie, Robert says: to deceive others in such a way that they contribute to achieving one’s goals, or enable a project to succeed.
“There are lies that we might justify via a greater good, what Plato called a ‘noble lie’ or grounding myth, which he claimed was necessary for the stability of democracy. Today’s political ‘noble lies’ seem anything but,” he added, citing the premise for the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq that lasted 15 years, killing tens of thousands of people.
Robert said there are also the familiar ‘white lies’ that are deemed morally justifiable in order to avoid unnecessary hurt or discomfort.
“Most would agree that lying in order to cheat someone of their savings is morally wrong; but lying about someone’s haircut in order to spare their feelings seems morally benign (see the telling ‘Hair is Everything’ scene in the UK comedy series Fleabag: bad language warning). There are also those perverse types, Augustine’s ‘pure liars’, who delight in deception for its own sake.”
So, is lying bad – and is there something worse?
Not all philosophers agree on the morality of lying, said Robert.
But there is agreement that deception – and presenting lies as truth – is worse.
In short, it’s best not to lie – except for perhaps the odd ‘white lie’ from time to time.
